pressofatlanticcity.com: Stockton to host opioid abuse town hall April 10
4/4/2017
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP—Drug addiction prevention advocates and experts will hold a town hall at Stockton University to discuss opioid abuse in the Atlantic County area.
The county’s first Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall, organized by Partnership for the Drug-Free New Jersey and local groups, will be held at the university’s Alton Auditorium on April 10. Experts and community leaders will lead discussion on the prescription drug and heroin epidemic.
Atlantic County saw 85 drug-related deaths in 2015, according to the Office of the State Medical Examiner. More than half of the cases involved use of heroin.
About one in four deaths included the use of fentanyl , a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.
Overdoses from prescription opioids are a driving factor in the increase in opioid overdose deaths since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amount of prescription opioids sold in the United States has nearly quadrupled.
Opioid pain relievers were prescribed nearly 63 times per 100 persons in New Jersey in 2012, the CDC reported.
All residents from Atlantic County and surrounding areas are invited to the free event. Experts will talk about ways to address the public health and safety crisis in local communities.
The event is co-organized by Horizon Foundation of New Jersey and sponsored by Stockton University’s Campus Police, Join Together Atlantic County and the Atlantic County Opiate Task Force.
Register online for free at knockoutopioidabuse.drugfreenj.org/townhallseries/atlantic-county or call 609-272-0100 for more information.